A Week is a Long Time in Football

Last Friday, Ipswich sacked Roy Keane.  On Sunday they lost 7-0 to Chelsea.  On Monday, Paul Jewell was given the manager's job, and on Wednesday night - before Jewell officially took over, they beat a strong Arsenal side 1-0 in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final.  In the same period, Liverpool sacked Roy Hodgson after about 6 months in charge, and appointed Kenny Dalglish as manager to the end of the season.  Liverpool then lost against Manchester United in the FA Cup, and against Blackpool in he league.  What a week! I was not too upset about Roy Keane getting the push.  I was not that keen when he was appointed as manager 20 months ago - he did not seem to me to be someone who would bring the right type of football back to Ipswich, and his track record, both as a player for Ireland and in his only previous managerial role at Sunderland suggested that if things did not go his way, he would walk out.  In the end, I was hoping he would walk out of Ipswich but he did not, leaving them a few places above the delegation zone with a team including lots of loan players, good players who seemed to be dropped despite putting in reasonable performances and no settled side.  It seemed almost impossible to predict who would play each week, let alone the positions that they would be playing.  Whilst injuries played their part, a lineup including a back four of centre backs, and a midfield of four central midfielders was not ideal, especially when players such as Jamie Peters were not playing.  Connor Wickham must have wondered why he had decided to stay at Ipswich with the expectation of getting some games under his belt when he rarely seemed to get a game, and Priskin seemed to have a good game and then get dropped from the side as a reward.  In short, the team did not seem to be moving forward - if anything they were moving backwards - and something needed to be done.  That had seemed to be clear for some time.

In the end, the timing seemed a bit odd.  A new manager could have been brought in towards the end of December giving time to look at the squad before the start of the transfer window, whilst leaving it until part way through January meant that opportunity was lost.  Sacking the manager on Friday with the next games against Chelsea and Arsenal also seemed a little odd - sacking the manager at the start of the week to give the team some time to settle down again may have been an idea - and a 7-0 loss on Sunday could perhaps have been avoided.  However, with a new manager ready and waiting, nothing could have prepared us for a stunning victory over Arsenal in the Carling Cup.  The team seemed a little odd, with Kennedy (a left back) playing as a holding midfielder and with Connor playing on the left of midfield rather than up front with Priskin on his own upfront.  It was a little nervy to start with - Arsenal having most of the ball (they ended up with 79% possession!) and Ipswich putting in some good tackles, blocks, saves and clearances, but even with just one up front they were stretching Arsenal's defence.  In the end, despite their lack of the ball, Ipswich could have had 3 or 4.

So from the middle of one week not knowing where the club were going, to being without a manager and getting thumped out of the FA Cup, we left Portman Road with a new manager rearing to go, and a second leg at the Emirates with a 1-0 lead to look forward to.  My ticket is waiting - I just hope I can get there as I have a hearing scheduled for Berlin on the morning of the game.